“Have the courage to admit you need a savior.” -Carter Conlon

We all have moments that mark our lives forever. Moments when we recognize that we cannot live this life successfully on our own. Moments when we finally give up doing things in our own strength. Moments when we recognize we need a savior.

I don’t know about you, but I have experienced life living for God and I have experienced life not living for God, and I can tell you that there is no comparison between the two.

However, even in my walk with God today, there are times when I want to and try to do things without God. Times where I think I know what’s best for my life. Times where I clearly know the best decision to make. Times when I know that I can clearly accomplish the impossible because I am so gifted. (Sarcasm)

Those times are often times when, in the end, I find myself falling flat on my face and wondering why things didn’t work out the way I wanted. Looking back on all the times I missed it in life, it was because I thought I knew the best way to live. The end result: pain. The pain of regret, the pain of failure, the pain of frustration, etc.

These painful moments when I made decisions without God, are clear reminders that I can’t do anything worthwhile in life without Him.

Jesus lived his entire life with a “Not without God” mentality. In John 5:19, He said, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.”

The more surrendered our lives are to God, the better lives we’ll live. It is a fact of life that once you’ve lived life for God, you will never want to do anything without Him!

We are either going to trust God with everything in our lives or trust him only when we don’t know what to do in a given situation. I’m telling you, trusting Him with everything is always worth it.

Determine that everywhere you go in life and everything you do you’ll do with a “Not without God” mentality.

A great lesson you can learn in life is there are some things you had no control over and there are a lot of things you have complete control over. If we will learn to separate the two, we’ll be better equipped to live the lives God intended us to live.

You Don’t Have Control Over:

• Whether or not you were born
• When you were born
• Where you were born
• What you look like
• Who your parents are
• Where you grew up
• How you parents raised you
• What grade school you went to
• What happens to you
• How others treat you

Maybe you didn’t like how your parents raised you, maybe you didn’t like where you grew up, maybe you don’t like what you look like… whatever it is that happened to you that you had no choice in, accept it and move on.

We may not have had a choice in what has happened to us, but the reality is, we can choose to accept what we cannot control and focus on what the things we can control.

Be grateful that you were born. Be grateful for what you look like. Be thankful that your parents raised you and did the best they knew how. Be grateful for the things you had no control over.

The key to dealing with the things we don’t have control over is to completely surrender those things to God and recognize that God knows what He is doing!

“I didn’t choose to be born, but I am sure glad I was.” -Bill Cosby

You Do Have Control Over:

• Your attitude
• Your actions
  
• How you react to things that happen to you
• What you will do with your life
• Who you will be friends with
• Who you allow to influence you
• Who you marry
• Where you go
  
• To be a student of life or not
• To stand up and make a difference
• To pursue a relationship with God
• To make the world a better place 
• If you will work hard or be lazy
• If you will be in shape or not
• If you eat healthy or eat everything in sight

We have a lot more control over our lives than we think we do. The choices we make in life matter. The choices we make will determine the future we will live in.

As John Wooden said, “There is a choice that you have to make, in everything you do. So keep in the mind that in the end, the choice you make, makes you.”

Choose wisely.

Thoughts?

Erwin McManus just completed a series entitled, “The Truth Between Us”. The series focused on the truths between Christianity and Islam, Buddhism, Atheism, Mormonism, Judaism, Hinduism, Catholicism, and Scientology, instead of focusing on the differences. You can listen to those messages on his church’s podcast here.

The series was excellent and very eye-opening for me. One thing I admire about Erwin is his ability to connect with those who believe differently than him and ultimately lead them to Christ.

In the series, Erwin said, “What if we related to people with the truths that bring us together, rather than the differences that set us apart?”

If we are able to relate to people at the core of our humanity, then we will be in a better position to point people to God. Everybody on the planet is looking for God. We are all looking for answers, looking for purpose, and are searching for truth.

Jesus said, “I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life.” He didn’t say I am a way, I am a truth, and I am a life. If what Jesus said is true, which I believe it is, then what everyone is ultimately looking for is Jesus.

The questions and problems that all of the religions I mentioned above are trying to solve, have already been solved by God. They are in His word. They are in a relationship with Him. However, most people have gotten turned away from Jesus because of a lot of Christians saying and doing a lot of foolish things and as a result, people stopped looking for the truth in Christianity.

Our job should be to come along side others in their search for truth and show them how God is already working in their lives.

Instead of focusing on the differences between us, let’s focus on the truths between us and help people see how God has already answered their questions and has a way to meet their biggest needs.

The truth is out there. We just need to help people find it.

Thoughts?